Rubber Band Pirates
by bigdogneversleeps
Summary: The brave warrior of the sea is exiled from Syrup Village and forced to start his journey early. However, while he sets sail and comes across a barrel in the sea that contains not beer, but a man named Luffy. Thus, a new story of One Piece is told with a new crew and new stories. These are the Rubber Band Pirates. (OC included, no explicit pairings)


Usopp couldn't believe it.

They kicked him out of the village!

Him! The mighty Usopp, the great warrior of the sea! They said he was childish and a menace to the village, so they voted him out! The nerve of some people…

Alright, maybe he was a bit of a jerk. Calling for pirates everyday would get annoying if it was done by someone else. But he was Usopp! The man with an army of 8000 men at his back, the ability to tame giant goldfish, a man who was flown around the world on a cannonball, and the ability to hit a hawk's eyes at 500 paces! And one of those was true!

It was tough for his crew when he left, but he could not in good conscious take them with him. It would have been unfair to their parents, and unfair to them. They had no idea the harsh world the sea was, as he did. Most of what he knew came from his father, a man that he greatly admired, if rarely saw.

When he got back to the Syrup Village, he would have to thank Kaya for the ship. He was afraid he would have to leave on some rinky dinky vessel, but she gave him a ship he could be proud of! And one that could endure the rough seas. And it had a beautiful name too, the Going Merry. He would take good care of it to his best friend in the world. He wouldn't know what to do without her.

He went back to overlooking the seas, making note of the terrifying whirlpool off to his right. He had no intentions of going anywhere near that disaster, but he felt sorry for the person who had been sucked into the abyss. He could see the remnants of his ship swirling around in the death vortex. Usopp made sure to leave a great amount of sea between the Merry and the whirlpool as he sailed by it.

Sure he was safe for the moment, his purpose came to mind. He needed to find a pirate crew! One that could befit a great man like himself. And one that could fight well, so that he could become a great warrior of the sea. And so bigger and stronger pirates did not defeat him. There was that too.

He would also meet his father, and show his son had become a great pirate! A pirate captain, to boot! He knew his father had set out to find a great crew to serve with, but he would do better. He would serve under no man!

He looked around the surrounding seas, and was surprised to see a barrel floating carelessly by. He had no idea what it was doing out there, or how it got there. Then, he remembered the destroyed ship in the whirlpool. It must have belonged to that ship, Usopp thought to himself. He began to wonder if there was any beer in the barrel, as it looked to be in mint condition. He had forgotten to bring beer on his voyage, and he was getting thirsty. Nodding to himself, he decided to get the hook he had on deck and pull the barrel out of the water.

In one easy throw, the barrel was attached to the hook. Then, using all the leverage he could find, he slowly dragged the barrel up onto the deck of the ship. Considering how heavy the barrel was, he assumed it must be full with beer, enough to last him for weeks no doubt. As he pulled the barrel over the ship's edge he rolled it to the center of the deck and pushed it right side up to open it.

However, he was surprised to not hearing any sloshing. Maybe it was full to the brim, but he had heard a bit of thumping instead. He thought to himself it might be food instead, which he wouldn't mind either. As long as it hadn't been damaged by the sea water, he would eat it. Getting the crowbar he had handy, he popped the top of the barrel open. Removing the top, he became very confused. Why was there a person in this barrel?

\

The person was wearing a red vest, blue pants, and had a straw hat on his head. At first glance, Usopp assumed he was dead, but then he could see he was obviously sleeping. That guy was sleeping! He had no idea how that was even possible. However, he did know the guy should probably find out he is safe from…why ever he was in that barrel. Usopp took the crowbar in hand and began to poke the guy awake. He wanted to keep a weapon handy, in case this guy was dangerous despite his appearance.

After three pokes to the face, the guy's eyes shot open, immediately looking towards the crowbar. Usopp pulled back in shock, taking a few steps from the barrel. Then, after about fifteen seconds, the barrel man stood up from his open, stretching wide.

"Man!" he cried out. "That was the best sleep ever!"

Usopp was confused as he watched him stretch. He was not clamoring about being safe, but about how sleeping in a barrel was great? Who was this guy?

The guy drew his arms next to his body as he began to look around. "Wow, this ship is really awesome. This is so much better than my boat!" He began to look around the ship.

"Um, where is…your boat?" Usopp asked, wanting to be sure of his answer.

"Oh, it is in that whirlpool, I think." The man casually answered. He then stopped, and turned to Usopp. "Oh, hey there. Thanks for pulling me out of the water," he said walking towards Usopp, "my name is Luffy. Monkey D. Luffy."

"What does the D stand for?" Usopp asked.

"Donuts." Luffy said without skipping a beat.

"Wait a minute, your name is Monkey Donuts Luffy?" Usopp was stunned at the ridiculousness of that name.

"Nah, I was just joking. I think the D just stands for D. At least, that was what Gramps would say."

"I see." Usopp hesitantly replied, looking over the person. "Well Luffy, my name is Usopp. And what I would want to know is why were you in that barrel? Wouldn't it have made more sense to watch out for, I don't know, a giant whirlpool!" Usopp's turn turned gag for a moment as he pointed out this logic.

"Well, my ship didn't have any sails, so I was just going with the motion. I couldn't stop it from entering the whirlpool." Luffy logically deduced.

"Then why don't you sail on a ship with sails?" Usopp asked him, frustrated slightly at this stunning lack of common sense.

"I didn't have a ship with sails, or else I would have. I wish I could have set sail on a ship like this!" Luffy said in amazement as he looked at the ship.

"Well, whatever. So what were you doing on the seas, Luffy?"

"Becoming a pirate." Luffy unknowingly deadpanned.

Usopp squirmed slightly. "A pirate, huh? Well, you should know that I am a pirate to. A captain even! Yes, I am the mighty captain Usopp with an army of a million men at my beck and call!" Usopp lied through his teeth to intimidate this other pirate. He did not want to fight anyone who could survive a whirlpool in a barrel.

"Wow! A million men! That's awesome! Where are they? Are they below the deck?" Luffy began to make to the door to the inner workings of the ship.

"Wait a minute there, Luffy. As captain of this ship, I demand you stop! I will unleash my men on you if you don't!" He threatened hurriedly.

"Really? I can fight all your guys? Bring it on!" Luffy got into a fighting stance, waiting to get attacked. Usopp was dumbfounded. He threatened with an army of a million men and Luffy was ready to fight them! This guy was crazy, he thought to himself.

"On otherhand, I won't send my army of 8000 men on you after all." Usopp said, attempting to diffuse the situation.

Luffy looked depressed. "Really, that stinks. I was hoping for a good fight…" He sulked for a moment before realizing the slip up. "8000? I thought you said you had a million men!" He turned to Usopp with a questioning look in his eye.

"Did I say 8000? I meant a million. I meant I have 8000 of the million on this ship, I mean I have the million I mean my 8000 men have the strength of a million…" Usopp began to ramble on in an attempt to cover himself, trying not to get into a confrontation with this Luffy character who seemed stronger by the moment.

"I think you lied to me!" Luffy plainly accused of Usopp. Usopp began to sweat profusely.

"I didn't lie, I only…I mean I really do have 8000 million men." Usopp shot himself in the foot. It was so bad, Luffy had caught his nervous screwups.

Luffy looked at him for a moment, and then began to laugh. This worried Usopp, since he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, so he began to laugh with him.

Luffy wiped his eyes as his laughing winded down before stopping, Usopp following him awkwardly. "Man, I really believed you for a moment. A million men! Your dad would have been proud."

Usopp smiled. "Yeah, he would have been." Looking triumphant, he suddenly realized what Luffy had said. "Wait, you know my dad?" He turned to Luffy, confused.

Luffy nodded. "Yeah, I met him a while ago, when I was a kid. He liked to lie a lot, but he liked even more talking about you until I wanted to stick my head in the ground! He told me so much about you, I knew it was you the second you said your name was Usopp."

Usopp's eyes widened it amazement. "Really? My dad liked talking about me? What was he doing back then?" Usopp hadn't heard from his father since he was pretty little, so he was eager for an update.

"Well, when I saw him, he was on Shanks crew and was a really good guy and an awesome sniper."

"Shanks? You mean the legendary Red Hair Shanks? My dad is on his crew!" Usopp gushed.

Luffy nodded. "Yeah, he was probably my best friend besides Shanks, too. We had a lot of fun until they all left."

Usopp went and sat down on an available crate on the deck. "That is cool. I haven't heard from my dad in a long time, so it is great to hear something about him. And he was your friend too." Usopp suddenly had an idea. It was a longshot, but Luffy did say he was a pirate. "Hey, Luffy, how about you join my crew? You like the ship, and I would like to hear more stories about my dad."

Luffy's head swiveled. "Nani?"

Usopp began to explain. "Well, I set sail to become a great captain and warrior of the sea, so I need a crew. And considering that you must be really tough to survive that whirlpool and a good guy for my dad to like you, I would want you on my crew."

"No." Was Luffy's immediate response.

"Well, why not?" Usopp asked.

"Because I'm captain. And I can't become pirate king if someone else is the captain." Luffy logically explained, inexpicably picking his nose as he said it.

"P-p-p-Pirate King? You mean you want to find the One Piece?" Usopp stuttered, amazed at the gall.

"Yeah, it seems like it will be a great adventure." Luffy said, as he flicked his booger away.

Usopp faceplanted in shock of the understatement. As he stood back up , he knew he had more questions to ask. "Wait, so you want to become King of the Pirates…because it seems like it will be fun?"

Luffy nodded. "And it means I am the strongest. And I want to become the strongest pirate in the world!" He pumped his bicep to prove his point.

Usopp's first thought was that this guy was crazy. His second thought was, to his shock, that he believed he could do it. He did not know why, but he totally believed that this guy, Monkey D. Luffy, could become King of the Pirates. He had the sudden urge to abandon his role of captain and ask to serve with him, like how his father was on the legendary Shanks crew, but he stopped himself. This was his ship, and he did want to be captain, so he shouldn't just abandon his dreams. His mind quickly formed into a compromise.

"How about we become co-captains of a crew? I could handle the stuff like the ship and what we need to survive, while you could be the leader when we fight other pirates. That way, we both can be captain and both achieve our goals." Usopp boasted in an effort to have Luffy on his crew. He would forgo total captain-hood if it meant he could have the next King of the Pirates on his crew. The fact that he accepted that thought like it was nothing shocked him too but…Luffy just had an aura around him that made it seem plausible.

Luffy narrowed his eyes. "We both be captains?" It was obviously confusing him.

Usopp nodded and explained further. "Like, I decide where we go and what we have to get and what to do, while you are the leader if we have to fight other pirate crews and you can figure out any plans we have to make to defeat them."

Luffy began to stroke his chin, contemplating it really hard. He looked back to Usopp. "I get to be King of the Pirates, right? I don't want to have to share that."

Usopp nodded. "Sure, sure. I'll just be…Prince of all Pirates! Yeah, so you are king, but if something happens to you, I'll become king." Usopp stuck out his hand. "How does that sound, Captain Luffy?"

Luffy looked down at the hand for a moment, and back to Usopp. Usopp was very nervous, but didn't want it to show. Breaking out into a smile, Luffy stuck out his hand. "You have a deal, Captain Usopp." They shook on the deal, when Usopp suddenly heard a huge rumbling noise. He hit deck immediately.

"What was that? Are we under attack?" He pulled out his kabuto in preparation.

Luffy laughed it off. "No, that is just my stomach. Do you have any meat?"

Thus, the Rubber Band Pirates were born! (Name will be explained next chapter. Just thought it would make sense for me to say it straight up, considering the title and all)

…..

Yeah, so I decided to go straight One Piece instead of a crossover (which has since been deleted) This story will examine the One Piece world under some new conditions, including a major difference in crew members from the East Blue, especially the big one you will meet later on. There will also be some bad endings that won't get mentioned, but if you know One Piece canon, will recognize. But I will also comment on some of the normally canon stories that get skipped if it is for the plot in the future. So I hope you enjoy this story!


End file.
